As outlined in Kenya’s REDD+ Readiness Preparation Proposal (R-PP) the Government of Kenya was in the process of developing its national strategy for participating in an evolving international mechanism for reducing GHG emissions arising from deforestation and forest degradation while conserving sustainably managing available carbon stock and where opportunities present enhancing forest carbon stocks. This process required enhanced institutional capabilities to undertake mandatory assessment of performance through regular and detailed monitoring of forest carbon stocks. Kenya Forest Service as (KFS) the agency charged with the mandate of ensuring sustainable management and conservation of forest resources in the country spearheaded the process assuming specific monitoring responsibilities.KFS through the Forest Preservation Programme (FPP) enhanced its forest resource assessment capabilities. Mapping Consultant’s Services, under the FPP, was implemented in two phases, Phase I and Phase II, with the following main objectives.

Harnessing and utilisation of archived and fresh imagery acquired from earth observation satellite sources and from forest inventory and ground truthing field activities to develop national forest resource maps.

Putting in place a system to enable historical trend analysis and fresh forest resource mapping.

Field sampling for identification of forest structure including species composition and forest inventory.